Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. After losing a fight on weigh-in day in January, Nasrat
Haqparast is making a quick turnaround to compete in March. On Wednesday night, Haqparast (12-3) posted on Twitter
that he had fight news, and that he would be back in the Octagon in
less than a month. ESPN
later clarified, according to Haqparast’s manager Ali Abdelaziz,
that he would be stepping in to face Don Madge
(9-3-1) at
UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13. Haqparast confirmed the
lightweight booking on Thursday on his Instagram.
Madge was originally slated to face Guram
Kutateladze at this event, but the Georgian pulled put due to a
self-reported knee
injury. The South African will be competing for the first time
since September 2019, when he took a unanimous verdict against
Fares
Ziam. A stalwart of the Extreme Fighting Championship
organization in South Africa, Madge has posted a finish rate of 89
percent, with his first career decision win against the
aforementioned Ziam.
Haqparast has competed twice while Madge has been away, suffering
the first knockout loss of his career to Drew Dober
and bouncing back months later to win a decision over Alex Munoz.
The Tristar Gym fighter out of Afghanistan has his own impressive
finish rate, with 75 percent of his victories coming by knockout.
His first eight career wins all came by knockout, with the first
six in the opening round.
UFC Fight Night 187 goes down on March 13 at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas, with a welterweight headliner on top between Leon
Edwards and Khamzat
Chimaev. Other major matchups on the card include a
featherweight clash between Dan Ige and
Ryan
Hall, as well as a middleweight scrap between Eryk Anders
and Darren
Stewart.
